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Christianity a Permanent Religion. 



DISCOURSE 



DELIVERED AT THE 



DEDICATION OF THE NEW MEETING HOUSE 



FOR THE USE OF 



THE CAMBRIDGEPORT PARISH, 



OCTOBER 29, 1834. 



BY ARTEMAS B. MUZZEY, 

Pastor of the Society. 



PUBLISHED BY REQUEST. 




i5 s 1 n : 

BUTTON AND AV E N T VV O R T H , PRINTERS 

No. 4 Exchange Street. 

1834. 



^1^\^^' 

^^\ 



SERMON. 



Matthew 24 : 35. 



HEAVEN AND EARTH SHALL PASS AWAY ; BUT MY WORD SHALL NOT 
PASS AWAY. 

The consecration of a new temple to the worship 
of the Father, in the name of his Son Jesus, is a new 
confirmation of the permanence of our holy faith. 
Every edifice set apart to this use is another voice 
declaring to our minds and hearts that, though heav- 
en and earth should pass away, the christian religion 
will survive. Whether a church be erected by the 
many, or the few ; from the overflowings of opulence, 
or the hard-earned gatherings of need ; whether it be 
the majestic cathedral, or the most simple Protestant 
structure; whether it be in honor of Trinity, or Uni- 
ty ; nay, though it were raised that Christ might be 
preached of envy and strife, we have in those walls 
a new witness to the immortal nature of true religion. 
They testify that interests are bound up in this cause, 
which will outlive all that change, and decay, and 
desolation can effect. They teach that this subject 
has a hold on the spirit of man so decided, and so 
firm, that neither life, nor death, nor principalities, 
nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 
shall disturb it. 



4 

It will be the aim of this discourse to establish 
that position ; to shew that, whatever may be the 
fate of other institutions, the christian religion is des- 
tined, through all coming periods, to stand. 

I. The first argument I adduce on this subject is 
found in the existence of that religion at this mo- 
ment. Is it probable that Christianity will be ever 
again called to sustain such trials and shocks as it 
has in past ages ? Will a crisis ever arrive when 
there shall be so much to be feared by its friends, 
and so little foundation for hope, as in that dark hour 
when, our Saviour having just left his disciples, and 
ascended to Heaven, they gathered all in a single up- 
per room to discuss, with sorrow-stricken hearts, the 
momentous question, " Shall we now abandon the 
faith of our departed Master; or shall we, in the face 
of scorn, persecution, and death, proclaim it to the 
world ?" Is it probable that believers in Christ will 
be more tempted hereafter to renounce their belief, 
than those were who, in the three first centuries, suf- 
fered and died its voluntary martyrs, when by abjur- 
ing this doctrine, they might have secured life, pos- 
sessions, honor, all of this world they had, or could 
wish ? How soon too did the gospel suffer from the 
corruptions of a false philosophy. So early as the 
commencement of the second century, errors from 
this source were connected with it, which gave rise 
to dissensions, schisms, and an intolerance that threat- 
ened it with destruction in its very infancy. It was 
not until the reign of Constantine, in the fourth cen- 
tury, that the civil powers ceased to wage war against 



the defenceless christians. And when this opposi- 
tion had ended, there arose another danger hardly 
less fearful. 

The protection of the state proved, in the issue, an 
evil. By uniting indissolubly political and religious 
concerns, it occasioned a growing indifference to the 
spirit, and idolatry of the forms of Christianity. The 
unwise fostermother had well nigh ruined her adopt- 
ed one by an unnatural and excessive carefulness. 
Some may conceive that in those termed " the dark 
ages," our religion was always secure. The unity 
of the church, the scrupulous observance of all her 
requirements, the unbounded guardianship of his Ho- 
liness the Pope, what more was needed to uphold 
the faith? Nothing, I grant, if by this you mean the 
ceremonies, the name, and the show of religion. 
But if you speak of inward purity, of true self-de- 
nial, of active and social beneficence, of real piety — 
then do I say that these were in iminent peril from 
the fifth to the fifteenth centuries. When the laity 
were forbidden the scriptures, and the clergy were a 
dishonor to their calling ; when persecution was es- 
teemed a duty, and atrocities like that committed on 
the Jews by Richard I., were publicly sanctioned 
and abetted, pure religion must have been mournful- 
ly rare. And that Christianity should have survived 
the general decay, and the almost extinction of a true 
love to God and love to man, as it then did, affords 
overwhelming evidence of its infinite power and du- 
ration. 

To come down to a later period, and confine our 



view to a single nation, when has Christianity been 
more vitally endangered than it was in France during 
the atrocities of her first Revolution ? It is usually 
long after religion has lost its seat in the hearts of a 
people ere they avow their unbelief. The morals of 
that country must be lamentably degraded, whose 
rightful representatives boldly affirm, as did the Na- 
tional Assembly, that " death is an eternal sleep" — 
Christianity must have been driven to her inmost cit- 
adel, when a man of genius and influence, could pub- 
licly, in contempt of all reverence and decorum, de- 
clare, like Voltaire, that " it took twelve men to es- 
tablish Christianity, but he would show the world 
that one could destroy it. " To an enlightened 
friend of humanity what more terrific, than the spec- 
tacle of philosophers, naturalists, men of art and sci- 
ence, nay, priests themselves, madly denouncing the 
most holy religion ever embraced by man ! But 
Christianity outrode the storm, and has since been 
actually indebted to the sons of these very monsters 
of irreligion and atheism, for some of her ablest de- 
fenders. 

II. We infer next the permanence of our religion 
from the character of its Author. It professes to 
have come from God. It furthermore teaches that 
the end of all excellence is a resemblance to the 
Supreme and Eternal One. This is its distinctive 
feature. But, what are the attributes of that august 
Being? Among them we number an immaculate pu- 
rity. And we say at once of this, as of all the divine 
perfections, that, from its very nature, it must be im- 



mortal. For nothing that pertains to God can decay. 
" His counsel standeth forever. His kingdom is an 
everlasting kingdom. The heavens and the earth," 
as spake the psalmist, " shall perish ; but thou re- 
mainest ; they shall wax old, as doth a garment, but 
thou art the same ; and thy years shall not fail." 
Now if the Author of Christianity be thus the spring 
of all immortality, and this religion be designed to 
raise man to His holiness, to mould him in His 
moral image, then it must be itself imperishable. 
For it cannot be that the chief instrument for devel- 
oping our powers, that which is to redeem us from 
iniquity, and bring our souls into fellowship with 
their Creator and everlasting Friend, is itself among 
things that change and pass away. They who are 
"born again," must be so by virtue of "an incor- 
ruptable seed," and by "the word of God, which can- 
not but live and abide forever." 

HI. Christianity, again, is destined to live forever, 
because it is identified with truth. Jesus Christ 
called himself " the way, the truth, and the life." 
He affirmed that His religion would lead man ulti- 
mately to "worship the Father in spirit and in truth." 
And, though he withheld many things from his disciples 
because they could not then bear them, yet he prom- 
ised them after his decease, a comforter who should 
guide them into all truth. The promise was fulfilled. 
The comforter came; — the revelation is therefore 
complete. It contains all moral and religious truth. 
But, it is the essence of truth to be permanent. For 
what is truth ? The reality of things, their necessa- 



8 

ry relations to one another. Now these can never 
change. What was once finite will be so forever. 
Good will be always good, and evil always evil. No 
revolution, no accident, no time, or event can alter 
this law. Neither human nor divine power can make 
right to be wrong, nor wrong to be right. Error 
will pass away ; but truth always has been, and will 
endure forever. This is the sum of philosophy ; and 
it is the basis of the christian religion. Our holy 
faith involves the reality of things in our social rela- 
tions, and between man and his Maker. It teaches 
us who is the true God, that He is but " One, the 
Father." It teaches us the only true worship, the 
^' worship of the Father." It unfolds to us our rela- 
tion to God, that we are his '*=dear children." It 
shows us by what means we may secure His favor. 
It assures us, by the most solemn proofs, that we shall 
live beyond the grave, and that we must there be 
''judged according to the deeds done in the body." 
Now these are all truths, realities ; and the time 
can never come when one jot, or one tittle of them 
shall fail. 

But we by no means intend to maintain that men's 
speculations on religious truth will continue always 
the same. A change is now going forward in cer- 
tain doctrinal points of belief, which seems to us much 
more than a new modification of the once accepted 
Orthodoxy. Indeed, an Institution has been recently 
established in New England, for the express purpose 
of perpetuating certain doctrines, specified as essen- 
tial, but affirmed to be in danger of " subversion," at 



a sister Evangelical Seminary. The friends of the 
ancient system tremble for what they term " the 
fundamental principles of the gospel." And well 
they may, if the gospel must stand or fall with those 
doctrines. But, to us this sign of the times speaks 
a most cheering language. It furnishes a new evi- 
dence of the immortal nature of Christianity. It is 
the removing of the " hay, wood, and stubble," 
which were laid in corrupt ages as the foundation of 
the gospel, and placing " the precious stones" of 
truth in their stead. We deem it a striking proof of 
the invincible energy of pure religion, that, when er- 
rors have been for a long period accumulating upon 
it, it rises with an inherent strength, throws off the 
burden, has " free course, and is glorified" by the 
process. ' Tidings have just reached us that the In- 
quisition is abolished in Spain. It is a singular fact 
that w^here it originated, and its cruel works had 
been greatest, there it was first abolished. 

Analogous to this we find to be the influence of 
error in science, philosophy, every art and w^ork of 
man. Truth possesses everywhere a regenerating 
power. If one age has wandered far in the mists of a 
false metaphysics, the presumption is that some near- 
ly succeeding one wnll explode those errors, and 
when this is done, it furnishes a new testimony to 
the eternity of truth. The sceptic, by which I mean 
the universal doubter, regards these reforms in opin- 
ion not simply as proofs of man's inability to attain 
the pure truth at once, but as showing that no such 
thing as pure truth exists. A sound philosophy 



10 

does not so interpret them. Nor should we so es- 
teem the errors of believers in Christ. Thej are 
paths by which God leads our race to higher ground, 
whence truth is more clearly discerned. Hence er- 
ror in religious opinions and practices has a most im- 
portant mission on earth. It is useful to the indi- 
vidual ; for it makes him often the wiser and better 
man. It is of service to the nations and to the passing 
ages. Not that each error is a permanent teacher ; 
for each in succession is the effect of transient circum- 
stances. But it is still a beacon-light on the shore of 
history. And so are all the prejudices and passions of 
man, whether manifested in the glaring forms of su- 
perstition, in the madness of fanaticism, or in the 
crude conceits of infidelity and scepticism, but as the 
mighty rivers, the brooks and streamlets,* however 
various their fountain-heads, and unlike their courses, 
they are all lost at length in the calm ocean of truth. 
The position that error is essential to the devel- 
opement of truth seems, at first view, a startling 
paradox. But, to confirm it, we need only take our 
station in any of the more corrupt ages of the chris- 
tian era. Take, for example, the two centuries pre- 
ceding the Reformation. At this time the reading of 
the scriptures was prohibited even in England, under 
pain of receiving no pardon, during the possession of 
a bible, for any sins whatsoever. In the same parts 
of Europe, and at the same period, the multitude 
were actually indebted for much of their knowledge 
of the contents of that book to theatrical representa- 
tions. The most holy characters in scripture, and 



11 

the most solemn transactions there recorded were de- 
graded to impure and farcical exhibitions on the stage. 
There was a series of plays commencing with one 
termed "The Creation," and closing with "The 
General Judgment," in which not only our Saviour, 
but even the Supreme Being was personated by ac- 
tors ! And what view did the religious portion of 
the community take of these things ? His Holiness, 
the Pope, granted a pardon of a thousand day's 
sins to every one who should peaceably attend the 
whole series ! And such representations were en- 
couraged throughout Europe. Could the Church 
have taken a more effectual method to bring ridicule 
and contempt on our holy faith ? Yet it was an er- 
ror connected with this very subject, the sale of in- 
dulgences, which first moved the indignation of the 
Reformers, and awoke a spirit that slumbered not 
until Rome had lost her spiritual ascendancy. In the 
sixteenth century also, on the eve of the Reforma- 
tion, there arose a Jesuit, who was elected Cardi- 
nal for his devotion to the Papal cause, and chiefly 
for maintaining the monstrous doctrine, that if the 
Pope forbad the exercise of virtue, and command- 
ed that of vice, the Roman Church, under the pains 
and penalties of sin, was bound to abandon virtue for 
vice. Incredible as such facts appear, they were by 
no means rare in those days, and go all to prove that 
the darkest hour of error is that which precedes the 
dawn of truth. Christianity came out of thes'e fiery 
trials with new purity, and arrayed still in immortal 
robes. 



n 

IV. Our religion is shewn, moreover, to be perma- 
nent, because founded in holiness and virtue. 
The eloquent apostle, in his just and beautiful delin- 
eation of christian goodness, affirms that " Charity 
never faileth." By this he intends, I conceive, to 
say, that the religion of Christ, that is, its pure and 
beneficent spirit is imperishable. And, in addition 
to his authority, sustained by the supreme authority 
of his Lord and Master, we have in the very nature 
of goodness, virtue, or holiness, an earnest of its own 
immortality. All that is pure in principle, noble in 
sentiment, or kind in the affections is in harmony 
with the manifest purposes of our existence. It is 
so interwoven with all other good that the union 
cannot be broken. Piety and virtue are to the moral 
what gravitation is to the natural world. They per- 
vade, regulate, and uphold the whole system. Until 
you annihilate the subject in which they exist, you 
cannot destroy them. Vice and impiety are, on the 
contrary, destructive elements. Reason joins with 
revelation in attesting that " the wages of sin is 
death." To disobey conscience is to impair its mor- 
al perceptions. To cherish a malevolent feeling is 
to diminish our ability of loving a neighbor as our- 
selves. And he, who speaks irreverently of the Au- 
thor of life, takes the direct course to stifle in his soul 
the sentiment of piety. This is the law of all good- 
ness ; and it is the law of Christianity. '' If a 
man keep my sayings," said our Lord, " he shall 
never taste death." The widow's mite was with 
him a precious gift. No right purpose was to be 



In 

ever forgotten ; for it came from a fountain of eter- 
nal life. 

There is a tendency, likewise, in every christian 
quality to perpetuate itself. A good principle, let us 
suppose, is established in the breast of some believer. 
Now that principle will affect the character ; and 
who does not know, that a pure character is felt by 
all who observe it. These, again, communicate the 
impulse to others. When that generation die, they 
transmit the principle to another. It may for a time 
slumber in some unnoticed volume ; but it cannot 
perish. For the soul is always in search for some- 
thing good. The book will be found and read. The 
leaven will diffuse itself from mind to mind, and heart 
to heart, until it becomes a guiding star to the race. 
Such is christian excellence. It receives through all 
time, and in all bosoms, fresh supplies of spiritual 
life, or rather it is life itself, as enduring as the soul 
it inhabits. As soon may you blot from this outward 
universe a particle, or a world, as strike from exist- 
ence a gospel virtue. Be it the smallest seed of pure 
religion, it belongs to " the word of God." It is 
therefore *' incorruptible, and shall live and abide for- 
ever." 

V. Another proof of the enduring destiny of Chris- 
tianity is^found in its accordance with the teachings 
of NATURE. All that the external world reveals to 
us of the beneficence of its Creator, of his ever 
watchful Providence, and of his special care over 
man, is confirmed by our Saviour. He assures us 
that God, though an impartial moral Governor, is a 



14 

mild, merciful Father to our race. Nature had whis- 
pered to the soul that it should survive the power of 
death. " Life and Immortality " was the great 
theme of the gospel. The capacities of the soul 
high, glorious, infinite in their tendencies and aspira- 
tions, and the unequal distribution of good and evil 
in this world, give hope of a future retribution of the 
just. And what is Christianity but a confirmation, in 
its whole spirit and doctrine, of that blessed hope. 
But nature, even on the infidel's hypothesis, is an 
eternal principle. The voice it has lifted up through 
the endless past, is to be heard, and can never be si- 
lenced in the endless future. Who does not feel that 
we have here a rock for our faith, which, being the 
foundation of God, shall stand forever ? The waves 
may beat against it, and the rain descend upon it, 
but they act only in concert with nature, and the re- 
ligion shall not fall. 

This argument is equally conclusive, when ap- 
plied to the correspondence between Christianity 
and the nature within us. Man, for example, is a 
rational being. This is the perfection of his char- 
acter. In proportion as his powers are truly unfold- 
ed, he discovers more and more the authority and 
power of reason. Passion is fitful, and evanescent. 
The affections are variable ; they are often capri- 
cious in their objects, and have in themselves little 
to insure their permanence. But unite them with 
reason, understanding, judgment, and they become 
at once steadfast. Now we maintain that pure 
Christianity is in strict alliance with this kingly at- 



15 

tribute. It contains no doctrine at variance with 
reason. What more rational than these great truths : 
" The Lord our God is one Lord." He hath sent 
his Son to be a Saviour and Redeemer of mankind. 
Repent of thy sins, and they shall be blotted out. 
" The hour is coming in v^hich all that are in the 
graves shall come forth ; they that have done good, 
unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have 
done evil, unto the resurrection of condemnation." 
Here is no principle or precept to shock the intel- 
lect, or do violence to the law of conscience. On 
the contrary, the keeping of such commands brings 
every faculty of the soul into perfect harmony. 
And what a delightful harmony it is. Faith and 
reason, not frowning one on the other, but joined 
in fellowship. Love to God, that pure sentiment 
which the whole Universe, in its marks of a bound- 
less benevolence, must always, if justly observed, 
inspire, made the first great law of Christianity. 
Love to man, a philanthropy which nature cannot 
but approve, not coldly commended, but impressed 
on the very front of revelation. If then the under- 
standing, given us by divine inspiration, be, from its 
very essence, as well as offices, immortal, how elo- 
quently are we taught that a rational religion has 
the seal of Heaven that it shall never pass away. 

VI. Among other circumstances that will per- 
petuate our faith, we name next, its beneficent in- 
fluence on man's temporal condition. 

1. Look first at this influence as manifested in 
civil society. How much has Christianity done for 



16 

the political institutions of all nations that have hith- 
erto embraced it ? True, our Saviour disclaimed 
the intention of interfering with the forms of gov- 
ernments, and enjoined peaceable submission to 
their decrees. He affirmed that '' his kingdom was 
not of this world ;" and dissuaded his followers 
from aspiring to political distinction. But, the indi- 
rect influence of his teachings upon civil polity was 
immense. Where order had been maintained hy 
standing armies, by a multitude of spies, and an 
odious police, no sooner did the mild spirit of the 
gospel prevail, than moral restraints were substi- 
tuted for physical force. He who, in obedience to 
this faith, regards every one as a brother, will not 
lift up his hand in anger against him. The ferocity 
of the vulture will give place to the harmlessness of 
the dove. A moral elevation is thus given to soci- 
ety, which is felt not only by avowed believers, but 
by the spiritually indifferent, and even by the pro- 
fessed infidel. Rulers, so far as they are christian 
men, will be guided by justice and integrity, and 
remember they are '^ servants of God." Subjects 
will submit themselves to the powers that be, as 
" ordained of God." 

Here too will civil freedom be enjoyed, as it can 
be under no other religion on earth. Christianity 
teaches men to respect one another as equal and 
immortal beings. While it leads each to maintain 
resolutely his own liberty, it inspires a regard for 
that of his neighbor. Obliterate from any commu- 
nity that sense of accountableness to the All seeing 



17 

One which our religion awakens, and you have no 
possible guard against despotism. Destroy the leav- 
en of christian benevolence, and you destroy all that 
prevents man from ravaging the possessions, and 
taking the life of his fellowman. Now if we owe 
this, all the real security for life, property and free- 
dom we enjoy, to our blessed faith,* if that govern- 
ment in which christian principles decline, be it a 
monarchy or a republic, becomes always a despotism, 
then the last hope of humanity, a hope which heaven 
forbid we yet abandon, hangs on the permanence of 
the christian religion. And, until a people prefer con- 
fusion, anarchy, terror and bloodshed, to sitting qui- 
etly each beneath his own vine and fig tree, and to 
sleeping without fear of the yell of the midnight 
mob, they will never shut up their churches, or bid 
adieu to the spirit of Christianity. 

2. The world are not likely to discard our religion, 
in the next place, while they value the cause of 
charity. To confine our view to the public charita- 
ble institutions that have sprung from the precepts of 
the New Testament, where shall we find their par- 
allel in heathen countries ? In the very life-time of 
Jesus a benevolent society was already formed, ll 
consisted of his twelve disciples. The traitor Judas, 
in pleading for the poor, though he did it from a base 
motive, shewed the current sentiment and practice of 
the apostles on this subject. And never have the 
works of kindness disappeared from among christian 
communities. In every age there has been many a 
Dorcas. The monastic charities, and those of Prot- 
3 



18 

estant lands, Hospitals, Infirmaries for the deaf and 
the blind, numberless associations to do good, all tes- 
tify to the merciful spirit of our faith. And the 
sick and '' the poor we shall have always with us." 
No time will come, no nation be found, in which 
the gift of alms will cease to be needful, or chris- 
tians forget to be kind. We have in this fact anoth- 
er pledge that this divine religion, the angel of mercy 
to our frail and helpless race, will be forever upheld. 
3, I have time to allude distinctly to but one more 
of those benign effects of the gospel, which tend to 
insure its perpetuity. I refer to its domestic influ- 
ences. Where has the institution of marriage been 
sustained in its purity save in christian lands ? Where 
else have the relations of home been exalted to their 
just rank among the means of virtue, peace, and 
happiness ? Where else has woman been elevated to 
her true rank in society, and at the fireside ? The 
nations of old united in degrading, dishonoring her, 
and trampling on her rights. The heathen world, 
and even Judaism, made her the slave instead of the 
companion of man. At this moment, she is treated 
in Mahometan and Pagan lands like the brute. The 
sacred name of mother is there a by-word — the deli- 
cate and beautiful relations of daughter and sister are 
there a reproach. But Christianity delights in ex- 
alting woman. Its truths and sentiments are pecu- 
liarly congenial to her taste. Its enduring patience 
and saintly fortitude find in her spirit their native 
dwelling place. The divine consolations it imparts 
to the wounded and drooping heart seem the very 



19 

element of her being. And shall this precious gift 
be sometime destroyed from the earth ? No. Wo- 
man is now too well acquainted with its value to 
consent ever to part with it. And man, having once 
respected as he ought, the partner of his lot, will not, 
in savage selfishness, put forth his hand to suppress it. 

We might here adduce many other intellectual 
and moral advantages that accompany the diffusion 
of our faith. But it needs volumes to do justice to 
so vast a subject. We can only say, that the facts 
and events witnessed throughout Christendom, the 
termination of human sacrifices, and of those multi- 
plied cruelties to man and the inferior creation which 
stain the page of history, and the introduction in 
their place of a spiritual worship ; the new impulse 
given to the arts, to science and literature ; the abcti^^^^^^^^'^'*^ 
titRTR of War, Slavery, Intemperance, of every polit- 
ical, moral, and social evil ; the amelioration of penal 
codes, and prison discipline, the thousand indirect 
and nameless benefits we derive from Christianity, are 
each a token of its unending duration. They give 
omen of its never-dying energy. They tell us that 
not only the friend of religion, but the philanthropist, 
the true patriot, the wise worldling, will cast their 
vote in its favor. 

VII. We observe, next, that our position is sus- 
tained by the universal adaptation of Christianity 
to the wants of mankind. What is most extensively 
beneficial is most likely to be permanent. But the 
principles and requirements of our religion are suited 
to every class and condition of men. It gives gen- 



20 

eral precepts, free from minute and perplexing de- 
tails. In regard to mental culture, it glories indeed 
in the homage of such intellects as Locke, Milton, 
and Bacon. It finds a glad abode in the geniuses of 
our race. But there is no mind so feeble, or uncul- 
tivated, that this religion does not meet its compre- 
hension. It has motives that kindle the least spark 
of virtue. Its consolations wait not on the rich and 
mighty alone. Nay, Christianity is a fast friend to 
the poor. Again, it has no burdensome ritual, no 
tedious ceremonies. The two rites it enjoins are 
as simple as they are comprehensive and important. 
Other religions contain much that is local. The 
Mahometan must perform his pilgrimage to Mecca, 
or the Prophet assures him *'he might as well die a 
Jew, or a Christian." Transplant the religion of the 
Hindoo from the waters of the Ganges, and it loses 
its \itality. Were the worship of China separated 
from its civil connections, the spring of its power 
would be broken ; for though religion is not there 
imposed by law, yet the Emperor, who is supreme 
and undisputed in every act, is in effect the High 
Priest of the empire. How much of the Mosaic rit- 
ual was confined for its observance to Judea. Dru- 
idism, if the climate did not produce the oak and the 
misletoe, had no soil to support it. You must give 
the African his lion or tiger for a national fetiche, or 
his superstition would soon pass away. But the Chris- 
tian can fulfil the commands of his faith be his per- 
son wheresoever it may. His worship is that of the 
spirit, — its object the Omnipresent One, — his moral- 



21 

ity is that love which meets every where a brother. 
He can receive the baptismal seal no less from a 
consecrated drop, than in oceans or rivers. And the 
memory of his Master may be celebrated with equal 
acceptance beneath polar or tropical skies. 

It is evident, indeed, that our Saviour is the only 
founder of a religion intended for universal recep- 
tion. The leading principle which actuated Moses 
was strictly national. He would divide the Jews 
from every neighboring people. Many of their laws 
were of local application. The great aim of their 
ritual was to distinguish them from the surrounding 
world, and show them that God was their Ruler 
and King, and they His chosen people. Judaism 
could not, therefore, have become an universal reli- 
gion. Look, next, at the designs of Zoroaster. He 
aimed in his whole system of legislation and religion 
to cooperate with the kingdom of the Medes. And, 
apart from the despotic governments of Asia, his 
purposes could not have been effected. Within those 
limits they were doubtless of much value ; but be- 
yond them, of none. Confucius, the celebrated Chi- 
nese Reformer, was content with travelling in the 
narrow circle of his own country, and inculcating 
there those virtuous sentiments which still charac- 
terize his followers. If we turn to the East, or the 
West,*we find no religion, not the Grecian myste- 
ries, not the superstitions of ancient Egypt, not the 
doctrines of the American, Northern or Southern 
Aborigines, not the faith of Mohammed — depending, 
as it does, on the sword for propagation — not one do 



22 

we find, except the simple doctrine of Jesus, either 
intended to be, or capable of being universallj prev- 
alent. What a proof is this of the glorious destiny 
of the gospel. Who can believe that so sublime a 
system, one that conforms itself to every nation and 
every capacity, has gone forth to the end of its 
course ? Is there not in this singular flexibility of 
our religion an evidence that it will journey onward 
through all ages, and gain new triumphs in its pro- 
gress ? 

VIII. This conclusion is much strengthened by 
the last argument I propose to offer. Christianity 
will live forever because man is a religious be- 
ing. History gives ample support to this assertion. 
For no people has ever existed, whether savage or 
civilized, among whom were not traces of the spirit- 
ual principle, of a belief in Superior Powers, and 
in a life to come. The heathen mythologies, the 
incantations, funeral ceremonies, religious traditions, 
and expiatory sacrifices prevalent from the remotest 
antiquity, manifest a conviction that the soul is inde- 
pendent of the body ; or, at least, that man is im- 
mortal. In the literature of former communities, 
the earliest productions were the hymn and the sol- 
emn litany ; and after the decay of nations, we find 
monuments that recognize the great truths of reli- 
gion. 

There have been numberless varieties, it is true, 
in the forms and objects of human worship. Now 
we see an advance from Polytheism to Pantheism. 
And now, in the decline of society, the objects of 



23 

adoration are, within certain limits, fewer, and more 
disgusting. But, whether it be Phoenicia in its sin- 
cerity, or Israel in its wickedness, bowing down to 
Baal and Ashtaroth, each testifies that man is natu- 
rally given to the worship of a God. The Persians 
once paid homage to fire. The Assyrians, Babylo- 
nians, and nearly all the nations of old, adored the 
celestial bodies. Here the souls of the departed 
were venerated as gods. There the ocean, time, 
animals, sometimes loathesome reptiles were deified. 
Now the blood of bulls and goats, and now that of 
our fellow mortals has flowed in sacrifice. But, 
why, you may ask, repeat this revolting catalogue ? 
My friends, revolting as it is, it teaches a most use- 
ful lesson. It assures man that the religion, which, 
in his pride and sinfulness, he sometimes derides, is 
planted in his inmost soul. The scoffer may cry out 
" crush the wretch." But, he who is versed in hu- 
man history, knows that neither scoff, nor menace, 
neither persuasion, nor violence, has been able, or 
will be able to exterminate this princple from the 
world. Religion is a reality. It is all that can sat- 
isfy a real want of the spirit. Man seeks it as by 
instinct. He is born helpless and ignorant. Re- 
ligion supplies him with knowledge and strength. 
He is the child of sorrow. Religion is his only ef- 
fectual comforter. And, as soon will he cease to be 
man, as lose all traces of his divine origin and heav- 
enly destiny. 

Are we told that some do openly deny the God 
that made them, and mock at the mention of an 



24 

hereafter ? This is true, mournfully true. But, it 
does not disprove that man^ as a race, is naturally in- 
clined to a belief in spiritual things. There may be 
individual exceptions. We doubt not there are those 
who disbelieve in a future state ; though we do 
doubt whether any man in his sober senses ever 
disbelieved the existence of a God. But what will 
these instances prove ? Not certainly that man is 
by nature a sceptic or an infidel. Some are born 
maimed, blind, or infirm. Yet no one thinks this a 
proof that man is naturally maimed, blind, and in- 
firm. Some have little, if any, benevolence, grati- 
tude, or love in their characters. But has not man 
therefore a moral nature ? Say not then that those 
unbelievers, who were made so, as almost all are, by 
a vicious education, or, if not so, by a diseased mor- 
al constitution, furnish proof that their race is natu- 
rally void of all propensity to faith and worship. 
Consider rather that every high thought and pure 
sentiment springs from religion. Know that all gen- 
uine philanthropy comes from the same holy source. 
For to love man, and yet not love that exalted Be- 
ing who combines man's qualities raised to per- 
fection is wholly inconsistent. So that he is not a 
perfect man, having all his powers fully developed, 
in whom the sentiment of religion is not yet de- 
veloped. 

There are those, I am aware, who confide so little 
in our spiritual destiny, as to entertain fears that re- 
ligion is waning and wasting from the world. The 
flames of controversy threaten, they tell us, to con- 



25 

sume it, and sectarianism and bigotry are preying on 
its vital parts. They point us to the Infidelity of 
the times, and to its bald Atheism, with the assurance 
that when Christianity is called to meet such open, 
unblushing, and organized hostility, its days must be 
numbered. Public opinion, it is thought, both here 
and abroad, is fast losing its reverence for our sacred 
faith. Instead of the spacious walls which, in the days 
of our fathers, welcomed a whole town or village to 
the same congregation, we have now our puny church- 
es, fit emblems, it is said, of a decaying religion. 

But, I do not so regard these events. Controver- 
sy, instead of undermining our holy religion, is, I be- 
lieve, an invaluable means of deepening its founda- 
tions. For though some have been wearied by its 
din, and harm has occasionally attended it, yet there 
was never a period since the days of the apostles, 
when religious truth gained as it has within the years 
just past. I do not say that the ranks of that sect 
denominated '' Liberal Christians," have exceedingly 
multiplied. But, 1 do say that liberal sentiments 
have advanced rapidly, that there has been a decided 
amendment of the ancient creeds, and a diffusion of 
new light among every denomination. And we owe 
this improvement, in no small measure, to the dis- 
cussions or controversies of the day. They compel 
men to review their doctrines, *' to prove all things," 
and, as a natural consequence, to " hold fast" that 
only which can be proved to be " good." 

For the spread of Infidelity — we remark that it 
presents in our own times no new features, and bears 
4 



26 

no marks -of a greater durability than the Infidelity 
of France and England in the last century did. Ap- 
prehensions were then entertained by many that un- 
belief would predominate, both here and abroad, 
over Christian Institutions. But its reign was brief. 
It was vanquished by the same weapons as it had 
been in former ages. And so it will ever be until it 
shall advocate a purer morality and a more sound 
philosophy. From the ancient scepticism of Lucre- 
tius, down though the various modifications and 
shades of unbelief to this present hour, it has borne 
on its face uniformly traces of a speedy decay. We 
believe it will now excite christians to examine anew 
the evidences of our faith ; and to examine them 
thoroughly leads always to a firm conviction that the 
religion is true, invincibly true. And the more clear- 
ly we perceive its truth, the more earnestly shall we 
toil in its defence, and the more rational arguments 
shall we bring to support it. This is all we need. For 
a reasonable faith is among the certain remedies of 
unbelief and scepticism. Let irrational creeds and 
their usual attendants bigotry and intolerance, be 
abolished, and with them priestly domination, the 
unrighteous power of Inquisitions, Councils, and self- 
idolizing churches, — the great rock of Infidel of- 
fence, — must dwindle and pass away. 

Is it not reasonable, from this tenor of events, to 
anticipate that the christian religion will never be 
abolished from the hearts of beings disposed natural- 
ly to embrace some form of religion ? The sole 
point to be decided before answering that question 
is this. Is there any other religion more likely to 



I 



27 



prevail and endure than ours ? A survey of the other 
different systems on earth will lead us to conclude 
that there is no one of them destined to exist forever. 
The Mohammedan faith, although extensively em- 
braced, and allied to Christianity by what it has bor- 
rowed from it, is manifestly losing its hold on the 
world. It is suited only to an iron age, and to re- 
gions of intellectual darkness. But light is dawning 
on the Moslem race. Two thousand Turkish child- 
ren are now in the public schools of Constantinople ; 
and the Sultan is compelled to withhold a resistance, 
at least, to the enlightened and liberal sentiments 
around him. The recent emancipation of Greece 
from the Ottoman power gives evidence of the de- 
cline of Turkey. Syria is in arms against her des- 
potic ruler. And if Persia were rescued from op- 
pression, the Mussulman must have small hope left 
of Universal Empire. Little can we imagine that 
China, or India, by their present superstitious and 
cruel forms of idolatry, are to give the world a satis- 
factory religion. As little can we expect this of any 
other of the Pagan systems. Let us then look to 
Judaism. But, who can believe that the wandering, 
homeless Israelite is to ever resume his ancient glo- 
ry, still less convert Mohammedan, Heathen, and 
Christian to his superanuated faith ? The trust of 
the nations then must be placed in Christianity. And 
that trust shall not be disappointed. There is that 
in this doctrine, which at once separates it from all 
others, and elevates it above them to an enduring 
sovereignty. " The sceptre shall depart from Judah." 
It shall fall from the nerveless hand of a Bramah, a 



28 

Boodh, and a Mohammed ; but in the hand of Jesus 
it shall abide forever. 

Where else, save in the gospel, can we find a spir- 
itual and expansive power able to give permanent 
peace to the soul? In that we do find it. What 
cheering views of Providence does this faith contin- 
ually disclose. It comes to man, a weak and des- 
pondent being, and no sooner does he feel its influ- 
ence, than a god-like energy pervades his spirit. 
We are surrounded by temptation, and daily sin. 
Nature gives us no assurance that our sins can be 
pardoned. But Jesus Christ, the Son of Infinite 
Mercy, whispers to our hearts, ''If thou ivilt^ thou 
canst be made whole. Repent, and thy sins shall 
be forgiven." We are filled with boundless desires. 
The religion of Jesus opens to us the only spring 
that can assuage this thirst. We have thoughts that 
mount upward, and wander forth, from world to 
world, asking that the mysteries of our souls may 
be solved. The Bible is placed in our hands, and 
we read the solution. Eternity — eternity, the song 
of angels and purified spirits, dispels the darkness 
that surrounds us, and brings order from chaos. It 
speaks ; and from the silent tomb, where the mourn- 
er lays the loved forms of the lost, a voice issues of 
hope and solace. The bonds, that were riven by 
death, are re-united. Death — what is it to the true 
Christian ? It loas the destroyer of his peace ; it is 
a messenger to brighter shores. It was *' the king 
of terrors ;" it is the hand of love let down to raise 
ourselves and our friends to a blessed, immortal home. 
O honored, precious faith ! Before thee temptation 



29 

is awed and quelled, and virtue thrives in eternal 
youth. At thy bidding, trials and sorrows work out 
our dearest good. Thou art our present portion, and 
what can we need ? Thou art our light through 
the grave ; what more can we ask ? Fear not, hap- 
py Christian. Nations may sink, like the autumn- 
falling leaves. Generations may seem but a splendid 
procession to their parent dust. We, all of earth 
that was, and is, and shall be, however fair, and 
richly endowed, may be borne by time's all-engulph- 
ing stream to unknown depths. But thy soul, and 
thy divine religion shall enjoy a perennial youth. 
Though heaven and earth should pass avi^ay, these 
shall endure. 

Let it not be conceived, however, that Christiani- 
ty, though destined to this glorious consummation, 
will prevail independent of human exertions. The 
prophecy of its Founder, like all the great purposes 
of God, requires means and agents to accomplish it. 
We have no pledge that the doctrine will be diffused 
through miraculous powers. Its truths must be 
faithfully inculcated ; and its forms strictly observed. 
Christians must exhibit in their lives the spirit of 
Christ. And they must contribute, not only the aid 
of an holy example, but their personal influence, 
their time and substance, to uphold and perpetuate 
its Institutions. In the present age, peculiar efforts 
of this latter description are needed. 

Brethren, of this Religious Society, I rejoice that, 
in the erection of this commodious and beautiful ed- 
ifice, you have publicly testified that nothing on your 
part shall be wanting to give permanence to that 



so 

faith you love and honor. It would conform to a 
natural custom on occasions like the present, to re- 
trace the former history of this Society. But its an- 
nals are so brief as to furnish little that need now 
be repeated, little of which some among you were 
not authors and partakers. The church, which gave 
place to this building, was the first erected for the 
Cambridgeport Parish, and had itself stood but a 
short term of years. Its location proved inconven- 
ient, and was doubtless a serious obstacle to the 
growth of the Parish. In an hour of darkness to your 
spirits, a kind Providence, as I believe you now feel, 
forbad you ever more to enter it.* With a prompt 
liberality, and with singular harmony, you at once 
resolved to set up another altar in the name of the 
Most High. And that too at the very period when 
you came under a generous pecuniary obligation to 
your present pastor.f In concerting and completing 
this house, you have passed safely through dangers 
that once threatened your peace, and overcome ob- 
stacles on which many societies, when similarly sit- 
uated, are wrecked. Thanks be to Him, who has 
crowned our cup with such a succession of blessings — 
blessings that no one of us dared to anticipate. The 
Lord requite your zeal and perseverance by the 
spiritual mercies he shall henceforth send you within 
this Zion of your hope and affections. May he aid 
you, with your entrance into this new temple, to 

* On the night of Nov. 10, 1833, the Church was partially unroofed by a severe 
wind, and thus made unfit to be occupied, and unworthy of repair. 

fThe vote for erecting the present Church was passed Nov. 16, 1833 ; that by 
which the present pastor was invited to a settlement was taken the 25th of the 
same month. These concurrent acts of the society in their situation and pros- 
pects at that time, manifested a most laudable christian enterprise. 



31 

consecrate yourselves afresh, "living temples," meet 
abodes for his Holy Spirit. O that you may bear 
from this place a pure flame that shall burn on your 
domestic altars, and make this to you, and to those 
dearest to your hearts, *' the house of God, and the 
gate of Heaven." 

Come then, and with one heart and one voice, let 
us dedicate these v^^alls to the worship of the One 
living, and only true God — to the promotion of that 
sacred truth, and ihat faith, virtue, and piety which 
the Son of God came to establish on earth. We 
dedicate this House to the cause of pure and unde- 
filed religion, to that divine doctrine which accords 
with the teachings of nature, and with the under- 
standing which God hath breathed into man. May 
none but the simple, spiritual, and beneficent princi- 
ples of Christ be ever inculcated from this sacred 
desk. We consecrate it to that inward sentiment, 
which satisfies the deep wants of the soul, which 
awakens the sinner to eternal life, and is suited to 
all regions and times. We set it solemnly apart to 
the honor of that Saviour, who is " the same yester- 
day, to-day, and forever." We dedicate it to the 
sanctifying influences of God's blessed spirit. Here 
may they descend in plenteous showers of light, 
wisdom and grace. Let those truths, which are 
sealed with immortality, be here preached with a 
godly sincerity, in demonstration of the spirit and of 
power. May many souls commence here an inward 
praise, that shall continue when time is no more. 
Here may the baptismal seal be affixed by many a 
parent's love. Around this table numbers, we trust, 



32 

through all coming years, shall gather, to attest their 
love of Him who shed his blood to redeem them from 
sin. From yonder seats may the melody of devout 
hearts ever ascend, and spirits be thereby attuned 
for the celestial choir. 

We assemble, my brethren and people, this day in 
cheerfulness and hope. We were " glad when it was 
said unto us, let us go unto the House of the Lord." 
But, if there are pleasing, so also are there sad ima- 
ges clustering round this season and service. How 
few of us cart anticipate being witnesses of the de- 
cay and dissolution of these walls. Soon must we 
exchange these places for those of the great congre- 
gation that slumber in the dust. Other forms shall 
soon fill these seats, and other voices echo along 
these walls. I have called these sad images. Yet 
why should I ? For, though these loved worship- 
pers are all but '' strangers and pilgrims on the 
earth ;" and though the lips that now address you, 
must ere long be hushed in death, yet the truths 
they pronounce can never die. It is an animating, 
glorious thought, — and let these walls reverberate 
the strain — the religion to be here set forth shall 
never " pass away." It shall guide our spirits to a 
fellowship in the heavens with these now living 
friends, and with the redeemed of all periods, na- 
tions, and tongues. It shall survive the decay of 
this, and of all earthly temples. It shall smile on 
the ruins of empires, the birth and extinction of suc- 
cessive errors, the subjection of every impure and 
mortal object ; and at length be re-united with, and 
swallowed up in that "God, who shall be all in all." 



at the 

DEDICATION OF THE CHURCH 

Erected by the Society under the Pastoral care of the 

REV. ARTEMAS B. MUZZEY, 

IN CAMBRIDGEPORT. 

OCTOBER 29, 1834. 

I.— ANTHEM. 

How lovely are thy dwellings, O Lord of hosts. My soul doth 
long to enter thy courts. Blessed are they who dwell in thy house, 
for they shall always praise Thee. Amen. 



II.— INTRODUCTORY PRAYER, 

By the Rev. T. B. Gannett, former Pastor of the Society. 



III.— SELECTIONS FROM SCRIPTURE, 

By Rev. William Newell. 

IV.— ORIGINAL HYMN, 

By Mr. George Livermore, a Member of the Society. 



\ 



Come, Thou, our Father, God Supreme, 
And deign to fix thy dwelhng here ; 

Come, and with holy radiance beam. 
And in these earthly courts appear. 



34 



Here may we feel a holy thrill, 

When God and Christ, in love are taught ; 
Here bid all earthly cares be still, 

And heavenly truth fill every thought. 

Here may the saint come up with awe. 
And bow in prayer to Thee alone ; 

Here may the sinner learn thy law, 
Forsake his sins, and Jesus own. 

The house of God ! O may it prove 
The gate of heaven, to all who here 

Shall come to celebrate thy love. 

To hear thy word, and learn thy fear. 

And when this temple shall decay, 
And we, who worship, faint and die. 

Grant us one long, eternal day 
Of worship in thy house on high. 



v.— DEDICATORY PRAYER, 

By Rev. C. Francis, of Watertown. 



VI.— HYMN, 

By Charles SpragTie, Esq. 

God of wisdom, God of might, 

Father ! dearest name of all. 
Bow thy throne and bless our rite ; 

'Tis thy children on Thee call. 
Glorious One ! look down from heaven. 

Warm each heart and wake each vow, 
Unto Thee this House is given. 

With thy presence fill it now. 

Fill it now ! on every soul 

Shed the incense of thy grace. 

While our anthem echoes roll 
Round the consecrated place ; 



35 

While thy holy page we read, 
While the prayers thou lov'st ascend, 

While thy cause thy servants plead, — 
Fill this House, our God, our Friend. 

Fill it now— O fill it long ! 

So when death shall call us home, 
Still to Thee, in many a throng, 

May our children's children come. 
Bless them. Father, long and late, 

Blot their sins, their sorrows dry ; 
Make this place to them a gate, 

Leading to thy courts on high. 

There, when time shall be no more. 

When the feuds of earth are past, 
May the tribes of every shore 

Congregate in peace at last. 
Then to Thee, thou One all-wise, 

Shall the gather'd milUon sing. 
Till the arches of the skies 

With their hallelujahs ring. 



VII.— SERMON, 

By the Pastor of the Society. 

VIII.— ANTHEM. 

And will the great eternal God 
On earth establish his abode : — 
And will he from his radiant throne 
Avow our temples as his own ? 
These walls we to thy honor raise, 
Long may they echo to thy praise ; 
And thou, descending, fill the place 
With choicest tokens of thy grace. 
Here let the great Redeemer reign. 
With all the glories of his train ; 
Whilst power divine his word attends. 
To conquer foes, and cheer his friends. 



36 

Great King of Glory, come, 
And with thy favor crown 
This temple as thy dome. 
This people as thy own. Amen. 

IX.— CONCLUDING PRAYER. 

By Rev, George Ripley, of Boston. 



X.— BENEDICTION. 



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